‘Binay met with Trillanes, Lim before coup trial walkout’
Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay was implicated yesterday in last week’s takeover of the Peninsula Manila hotel in
Sources from the intelligence community said they have received reports that Binay met with Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim at
Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said he received a similar report, but that he has not been able confirm the information.
“But the (reported meeting) does not mean anything,” he said. “Meeting them (Trillanes and Lim) does not mean he (Binay) is an accomplice to anything.”
Trillanes and Lim later walked out of the trial and marched with armed soldiers from city hall near
Officials said Binay and
Some of Binay’s bodyguards were reportedly at the side of Trillanes during his press conference at the
Rightist threat contained
The Armed Forces has contained the threat from rightist groups plotting to topple the government, a military official said yesterday.
Armed Forces public information chief Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro these “very small” groups do not represent any unit in the military.
A group of active military personnel was stopped from joining Trillanes and Lim at the height of the
Bacarro said the AFP had already downgraded its red alert level nationwide yesterday.
However, the Armed Forces National Capital Region Command (NCRCOM) is still on red alert, he added.
Meanwhile, Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. flew to
Esperon named his deputy, Lt. Gen. Antonio Romero as acting chief of staff while he is away.
On the other hand, military investigators have identified the whereabouts of Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon who escaped arrest at the height of the standoff Thursday.
“We have good leads on his whereabouts,” Bacarro said.
A P1-million reward had been put up by the Philippine National Police for any information that would lead to Faeldon’s recapture.
Several sources claimed that Faeldon is just hiding in Metro Manila, while there were reports that he was last seen in Laguna.
Lawyer Trixie Angeles, Faeldon’s counsel, fears that her client could have been discreetly taken by authorities at the height of the
Faeldon had informed his friends, the last contact he made, that he was going back to the Marine stockade, she added.
Faeldon’s escape was his second, the first was when he casually walked out from his coup d’etat trial at the Makati Regional Trial Court
While in hiding, he went from camp to camp, where he had his pictures taken to embarrass authorities who were hunting him down.
Faeldon was subsequently captured with military prosecutor Capt. Candy Candelaria in Malabon, who was a member of the panel prosecuting him and the rest of the Magdalo officers before a court-martial.
SAF defends attack at Pen
The Special Action Force defended yesterday the ramming by an armored vehicle of the glass door of the
Speaking at a Senate hearing yesterday, Chief Superintendent Leocadio Santiago Jr., SAF director, said his men reinforced by Marines used “necessary force” to quell the armed group of Trillanes and Lim.
“We have to ensure the main force will be neutralized,” he said.
“Under the rules of engagement, there is a need to overpower the opponent, especially in the handle explosives. Under the circumstances, we have no exact number how many Magdalo soldiers were with Trillanes, yet we know of their capability as we knew during the Oakwood mutiny in 2003.”
“The Marines were tasked to secure the line of assault,” he said.
“They served as the tactical group that entered the hotel shortly after the National Capital Region Command of the Armed Forces and the PNP terminated negotiations for the surrender of Trillanes and his group.”
Police and troops also threw tear gas canisters in the
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